Of A Death Eater's Loyalty
by Gamma Orionis
Summary: Bellatrix comes home to Rodolphus after a night with the Dark Lord, and finds him in a state that no Death Eater should ever be in: a state of anger towards their Master. Written for Archery, for Camp Potter.


Author's Notes: Written for the third Archery assignment for Camp Potter – _write a 2K or longer fic about loyalty_.

)O(

It was well past midnight when Bellatrix came home. She was sweaty and out of breath, dishevelled from the Dark Lord's attentions, her dress wrinkled and hair mussed, and she could not contain her smile. She could have sang from sheer happiness as she entered her manor and hung up her cloak; such was the pleasure she derived from knowing that she had done everything in her power and more to satisfy her master. It was an exhilaration known to her and her alone, for – as the Dark Lord has assured her – she was the only Death Eater he trusted enough to allow into his bedchamber. Bellatrix could not have wished for a better reward for her loyalty.

The manor was darkened and silent, and Bellatrix started up the stairs, quite ready to fall into bed and sleep until the Dark Lord called upon her again, but she heard a voice from the parlour.

"Come here, Bellatrix."

She froze at the sound of her husband's voice – miserable, firm, and more than a touch resentful. She felt a brief but sharp stab of guilt – she had expected Rodolphus to be asleep, so she would not have to confront him. It was much easier to speak to him in the morning, when she had had time to sleep, to gather her wits, and when she didn't have the appearance about her of having just come from the Dark Lord's bed.

Reluctantly, Bellatrix turned for the parlour, which was as dark as the rest of the manor, except for the moonlight where it filtered through the crack between the curtains. In that faint glow, she could see her husband.

Rodolphus was sitting in the darkened parlour, still as a statue with his fingers curled tightly around the arms of his chair. His face was in shadow, but Bellatrix could feel anger radiating off of him.

"Bellatrix," he said coldly. "Finally decided to come home, did you?"

"The Dark Lord kept me… busy," she said, and was thankful that they were cloaked in darkness so that Rodolphus wouldn't be able to see the small, satisfied smile on her lips. The Dark Lord certainly had kept her busy, busy serving him in ways that only she could do, in ways that inspired Rodolphus's deepest resentment. Ways that Rodolphus no doubt thought a woman should reserve for her husband.

"What did you do for him?" Rodolphus's voice was slightly strangled, tinged with tears. Bellatrix resisted the urge to giggle. _Oh_, there was a satisfaction about putting him into this state. Surely he was already imagining what she had done for her Master – the many ways in which she had pleased him, ways that he was desperately jealous of. Rodolphus's jealousy was an aphrodisiac, and Bellatrix took a step towards him, allowing herself to smile fully.

"Everything, dear Rodolphus, everything," she said airily. "He had me down on my knees for him – oh, it must have been for hours. I'm perfectly exhausted." She stretched her arms out wide and yawned. "It's a terrible strain to keep him pleased, but it's worth every moment… you know that I love nothing more than to serve our Lord."

"This is not service!" Rodolphus snapped loudly. "This is not required of you! You are his Death Eater, not his whore, and it goes beyond the bounds of loyalty for you to- to _bed_ him!"

"Envy is a sin, dear Rodolphus," Bellatrix purred. She leaned down and brushed her fingers against his cheek, a small and tender motion intended to infuriate. "You should be honoured that your wife was chosen to, ah… perform such tasks for the Dark Lord's pleasure."

Rodolphus was beginning to shake, though whether with anger or suppressed tears, Bellatrix could not have said. He slapped her hand away.

"Don't _patronize_ me, Bellatrix!"

"Fine. Then I shall bid you goodnight." She straightened and turned to exit, but had barely taken a step towards the doorway when Rodolphus was out of his chair and behind her with his arms wrapped tightly around her body. He pinned her arms to her sides, and though she struggled, she couldn't make him loosen his grip.

"Get _off!_" she snarled, but Rodolphus was stronger than her, and held her in place with ease.

"This is cruel, Bella," he hissed, and perhaps it was only Bellatrix's nerves that made his sound crazed, but he _did_. "Can't you so much as give me a kiss? One little kiss for your poor husband who you leave here all alone every night…" His fingers dug into her waist and hips and his breath was hot against her ear. "I think I've earned a little pleasure, haven't I?"

"Not from me." She managed to pull out of his grip just long enough to spin around to face him before he pinned her roughly to the wall. "Why don't you go to your brother – he'll kiss you more willingly than I ever would."

Rodolphus's eyes flashed and his hand went to her throat. "Don't you _dare_ speak about my brother that way! He's done nothing to you!"

"But he's done plenty to _you_, has he not, dear husband?" Bellatrix pressed sweetly, loving the way Rodolphus's hand trembled against her throat – he was too much of a coward to just snap her neck as he should have done (_as the Dark Lord would have done_). "He's a more faithful brother than I am a wife – always so eager to make you happy…"

"Go to hell," snarled Rodolphus, and Bellatrix only laughed.

"Go on, go to him. He'll be happy to have you in his bed, and I won't have to answer to you, you pathetic little–"

Rodolphus backhanded her. "I am your _husband!_"

"As if that matters…" Bellatrix spat on him, and received another slap for her trouble.

"Whore," he hissed. "You're nothing more than a whore. The Dark Lord was wrong to let you take the Dark Mark – he only took you as a Death Eater because you went to bed with him."

"You know that isn't true."

"You smell of him," Rodolphus hissed. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply – a positively repulsive gesture. Bellatrix tried to shove him away. "You smell of his filthy _Mudblood_ seed–"

Bellatrix's vision clouded over with rage. "How _dare you!_" Her voice rose to a scream. She lashed out and clawed at him like a cat, attacking every inch "How _dare_ you say such things about our Master! He is purer than you and I, and you will never amount to anything like he did – how _dare_ you call him by that name- you jealous _bastard!_"

Rodolphus stumbled backwards, and Bellatrix, finally free of his grip, drew her wand, but in her fury even the curses that she knew so well did not come to her tongue. She pounced upon her husband and pinned him against the opposite wall with strength that she didn't think she had, but that she found in herself when she thought of her husband – _a Death Eater!_ – saying such things about their Master. Rodolphus's head made a sharp, hollow _crack_ as it slammed against a window, and he groaned dazedly. Bellatrix shoved her wand into his face, positively burning with fury.

"How _dare _you," she repeated in a hiss. "You have sworn your life to him. He is your Master, and you call him by that filthy _lie_ of a name! Where is your loyalty? How can you criticise me for being an unfaithful wife when you are so unfaithful a Death Eater?"

"You know as well as I that it isn't a lie," Rodolphus snarled defiantly. "I suppose you don't like thinking of that, Bellatrix – thinking of how you've been down on your knees for hours for a Mudblood."

"The Dark Lord is not a Mudblood- he is more than you or I- more than human!" Bellatrix was losing control of her voice again, and she struggled to spit out words. "I will tell him that you called him a Mudblood, and he will make you pay- he will make you pay!"

"Go on and tell him, then! There's nothing that he could do to me that's worse than what you and he have already done!" Rodolphus's voice cracked, and he closed his eyes.

Had Bellatrix been more inclined to sympathy by nature – or had Rodolphus not said such dreadful things – she might have let him go then, might have felt that he had indeed been punished enough, at least for that night. But she would not have let anyone else escape blame for saying such terrible things about the Dark Lord.

"_Crucio_," she hissed, and felt a wash of relief when Rodolphus screamed and writhed. She stepped back and let him fall to the ground before lifting the curse and bending over him.

"Take this as a mark that I do care something for you, Rodolphus," she told him coldly. "I could send for the Dark Lord now, and have you killed in a moment – but I'm giving you a chance to repent for the things you said. You want that, don't you, dear Rodolphus?" She paused for a second, listening to Rodolphus's heavy, ragged breathing, then prodded him with her wand. "Come now, Rodolphus, all you have to do is apologize for the lies you said about the Dark Lord."

"I'd rather die," Rodolphus mumbled.

Bellatrix straightened up again and kicked him over to his back before aiming her wand at his heart. "_Crucio!_ You must learn, Rodolphus – you must be faithful to him!" She held the curse for several long moments before lifting her wand and allowing Rodolphus to speak.

"What has he done to earn my faith?" he wheezed at last. Tears were streaming freely down his cheeks. "Nothing, save for take my wife from me!"

"_Your wife_ gave herself freely!" Bellatrix kicked again and caught him in his ribs with the toe of her boot. "Because _your wife_ knows what it is to be devoted to him, and to his cause- _your wife_ is a loyal Death Eater, more than you can say for yourself!"

"Why should I want to be loyal to a man like him?"

"_Why!_" Bellatrix shrieked the word, and fairly tore at her own hair with frustration. "You ask _why_? He heads the noblest cause the Wizarding world has seen in an eternity, and you ask _why_ you should be loyal to him! There was a time when you understood, Rodolphus – a time when you had a sense of morality, a time when you were more than a spineless, worthless little–"

"Kill me!" Rodolphus interrupted in a cry. "Kill me or have him kill me, it matters not which- I don't want any part in this anymore! I took the Dark Mark for your sake, Bellatrix, because I thought- thought that it would please you!"

Bellatrix felt as if the wind had been knocked from her. "_What?_ Do- do you not think his cause is–"

"He is not his cause! I can believe that Purebloods are superior to Mudbloods without believing that _he_ is the saviour who will rescue us all from the mess that we've created by allowing Mudbloods into our society! Why should he be the saviour? He is no better than any other man of his blood status!"

Bellatrix couldn't speak. She was quite in shock that her husband would say such things about their Master.

Her curse had turned his head; that was it. There could be no other explanation. Rodolphus – the Rodolphus she _knew_ – would never say such things. And _dangerous_ things.

"C- come to bed, Rodolphus," she whispered at last. "You've- you're- you're delirious- need sleep…" With shaking hands, she reached out to help him to his feet. Rodolphus took her hands and staggered up, but nothing in his expression or stance indicated helplessness or confusion. Indeed, he seemed more lucid and less emotional than Bellatrix had seen him in a long time. The anger had drained from his face, replaced by a dazed sort of sadness.

"To bed," Bellatrix repeated shakily. "You- you're saying things you don't mean."

Rodolphus turned away from her without another word, and Bellatrix followed him up the stairs to their bedroom, drenched in cold sweat and with a feeling of deep fear twisting her stomach.

Her husband did not mean the things he had said about the Dark Lord, she told herself. He would come to his senses soon. It was only strain and passion that had brought him to speak so rashly.

_Surely_, she told herself, _surely _no Death Eater would ever really _believe_ such things about their Master.

)O(

_Fin_


End file.
